Betrothed

by Lola White

  “Well, there’s me and my parents, a few aunts, uncles and cousins. A handful of older ones that have nowhere else to go. The staff is all Family.”

  “I’ll be surrounded by people.”

  “Yes.” Eliasz heard his name and looked up to see Silviu hailing him from the opposite end of the hall. He was with Georgie, who was leading the way as usual, heading toward them.

  “That’ll be different,” Ileana said. “I’m used to being alone.”

  “Not anymore.”

  Georgie came to an impatient stop under the chandelier, clearly waiting for them to reach her. With a low laugh, Ileana dropped his hand and stepped forward, reaching out for the woman.

  The wind roared around him, coming from nowhere. Magic sparked and spat, hissing like an angry tiger. Without thought, barely understanding, Eliasz jumped for his betrothed, obeying the urgent command of his talent.

  They hit the floor at the same time as the chandelier.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ileana

  Her right cheek pressed hard to the cold marble tile. Her left cheek burned. Ileana knew her eyes were too wide as she stared at the destruction around her, shards of crystals still tinkling as they came to a sliding stop. Her ears echoed with the crash. Her lungs felt punctured, locked into paralysis by fear and Eliasz’s weight drilling her into the floor.

  Not more than two feet from her face was a mangled pile of metal. Three rings of heavy bronze, hung with the finest crystal to be found last century, no longer placidly clinging to the ceiling by two thick chains.

  Two thick chains.

  Unable to control her body, Ileana shook. Eliasz did, too. She shifted, blindly searching for her brother as sheer panic set in, stealing her ability to think. He was safe, pressed against the half wall that followed the rise of the stairs. Georgeanne was locked in his arms, head forcibly tucked into the sheltering protection of his chest.

  Her shoe was wedged into a bronze ring of the fallen chandelier.

  Eliasz lifted off Ileana’s body onto his knees. With a brutal jerk, he hauled her up against him, catching her as she bounced off his chest. Tension was a visible aura around him, battling with the radiance of his magic.

  His hands swept over her roughly, his angry eyes locked on her face, a savage snarl baring his teeth. “You’re cut.”

  Ileana raised a shaking hand to her cheek and found the burning streak across it was also wet. Her fingers came away red. Her brain seemed too slow as she looked up at the swinging chains that used to hold the chandelier.

  They were each as thick as her forearm, well crafted to hold such weight. Bronze links curved around each other gracefully. The last link was twisted, slightly melted, broken.

  Ileana’s vision wavered as she stared at the damage above her head. She blinked, raised her bloody fingers to rub at her eyes. The distortion faded.

  “Ileana?” Eliasz grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, shaking sense back into her cotton-clogged skull.

  “Gold,” she breathed.

  His face twisted in terror, his sun-kissed skin paled to a sickly yellow. His eyes darted between hers. “You have a concussion.”

  “No.” She spun on her knees, pulling away from his hold, unsteadily climbing to her feet. She braced a hand against the wall and glanced at her brother.

  He was looming over Georgeanne, a heated, whispered argument turning the air blue around them. Ileana barely heard them, their voices too low and other noises growing louder. Thumps and bumps, pounding footsteps overhead, the hollow sound of feet racing down steps.

  “Ileana?”

  She waved a hand. “I don’t have a concussion. I saw gold magic.” She looked at Eliasz, lowering her voice as the other occupants of the house descended the steps en masse. “Magic Matches have gold magic.”

  He looked confused, his eyes blank, but there was nothing more he could say. His father called out, seeking an explanation for the destruction.

  Eliasz kissed her bloody cheek. Cold air ran over the burning wound and she felt her skin knit back together under the gentle pressure of his magic. Staring deeply into her eyes, he ran his hands over her one last time before finally answering his father’s summons.

  As Eliasz left her, Silviu carried Georgeanne over. He refused to put her down when she protested, using her lack of shoes as reason enough to keep her in his arms. Her bare feet would be too vulnerable to the jagged crystal covering the floor.

  “Are you all right, Iley?”

  She flicked a glance at Georgeanne before nodding to her brother. “I saw—”

  “The chains give way, yes.” He interrupted her ruthlessly, his tone uncompromising. A demand for her silence on the subject. “I just barely caught sight of the metal snapping, myself.”

  Georgie hummed, eyes lifted to examine the chains as Ileana had done. “You were quick, Silviu. I didn’t know your reflexes were that fast.”

  “Be thankful they are.” Silviu went deathly white, eyeing the wreckage grimly. “You wouldn’t have survived that.”

  “Georgie.” Adam’s voice cut through their low conversation. “What the hell happened?”

  Momentarily ignoring her cousin, Georgie lifted her eyebrows at Ileana. “Have you had a chance to put your plan into action, yet?”

  She shook her head. “I haven’t even spoken to Costel since our first night here.”

  “Well, your grandfather is going all out on this.”

  Silviu growled. “We can’t be sure it’s him.” He shot Ileana a warning glance. “I think we should look at all our options.”

  “Constance? Anne?” Georgie’s lips pulled tight. “Who should we look at, Silver? Who else would go this far?”

  “We have no reason to believe Grandfather wants to kill either you, or Ileana,” Silviu argued in a rough whisper. “Until we get more information, we keep all options open.”

  “Georgie?” Adam called again.

  Silviu’s head snapped up. Pure meanness sharpened his cheekbones, his thinned lips barely moving when he ordered Georgie to question her cousins thoroughly. Then, with a hard command for Ileana to stay exactly where she was, he carried Georgie to the steps, where her bare feet wouldn’t come into contact with the debris.

  After a short, whispered word to Costel, Silviu returned, gripped Ileana’s elbow and towed her down the hall toward the rear entrance of the building. Struggling to keep up with his angry pace, she stumbled through the door into a garden lit by the last of the sun’s light.

  Silviu didn’t stop, only kept hauling her on until they came out onto a narrow brick path, wending through a maze of shrubs and browning roses. When they reached a small, cleared circle with a fountain and fishpond as its centerpiece, Silviu waved his hand imperiously, muttering a silencing spell with impatient words.

  A silver spark leaped from his fingertips and spread out in a shimmering wave. It zoomed around the little clearing before rising in a graceful arc, arching above their heads. They were enclosed in a bubble of magic.

  “You didn’t want me to tell Georgie what I saw,” Ileana said the moment that he completed the spell.

  “I haven’t told her of your talent and I didn’t want you saying anything in the hall. Georgie already knows about the gold magic. She thinks Grandfather might have hired, or threatened, someone to bring down the chandelier.” Silviu ran a hand over his head. “Adam and Christiana are Magic Matches.”

  “So, she should know—”

  “She’s aware!” Silviu spun on his heel, pacing quickly, long fingers driving through his black hair repeatedly. “If they’re trying to kill her, she’ll figure it out and take measures to stop them.”

  “Is that why you let her go with Adam?”

  He threw her a murderous glare. “If I’d kept hold of her, she’d have been fucked against the entry hall wall.”

  Ileana’s eyes widened. She’d rarely seen her brother this intense, not even the morning of the knife attack, when his anger had beat against her skin in physical bl
ows. “Whew.” Ileana sank down onto the stone lip of the fountain. “Okay, well…”

  Her brother took a deep breath. “Well, this shows us it wasn’t Grandfather. I don’t believe he’d hire someone to kill you, Iley. But that makes things more complicated.”

  “At least, he’s not trying to kill me this time,” Ileana couldn’t help but point out. “Although, we still don’t know if the attack was against me or Georgie.”

  “Or both of you.”

  “Or if it was the same person who pulled the knife trick. I didn’t see any gold flashes then, Silver, only on the stairs.”

  “If it’s the same witch, they learned how to do it better. This was a sneakier bit of magic,” he said. “Only the links were affected, so Georgie would have been killed by the bronze rings. No magic, no Bane shield.”

  They both fell silent for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Silviu looked up, examining her closely. “Last night, you were with Eliasz?”

  “Yes.” Ileana looked away, unable to hold her brother’s stare.

  “Being with him is to your benefit too, Iley. I’d have never let Father ask it of you if I didn’t think Eliasz would be the best husband for you.”

  “I know.” She licked her lips and told him about the conversation she and Eliasz had had before the chandelier fell.

  “You told him about your magic?”

  Her shoulder lifted. “It’s for the best. Telling him the truth only proves that I’m trying to make this work.”

  “Good. That’ll make it easier on all of us.”

  “He’ll support you, Silviu.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “And when he doesn’t, you’ll be right there to help change his mind.”

  She couldn’t stop a bitter smile. “By sex or by magic.”

  “Can you manipulate him easily, then?” Silviu sat on the fountain next to her.

  “I don’t know about easily, but yes, it should be fine.” Ileana tilted her head to meet her brother’s eyes through her lashes. “He listens to the wind.”

  “I know. I found files on all the Levys in Fredrik’s office, including Eliasz. I’m going back later to read up on the Gage-Levys. They’re both on the list of suspects.”

  “Gold magic, though,” Ileana breathed. “Do either of them have Matches?”

  “I’ll find out tonight.” Silviu shrugged, his head lifting as footsteps echoed through the garden. “Costel’s coming, I told him to meet us out here. Are you ready?”

  Nervousness streaked through her, piling on top of the fear still cooling her blood. Her throat went dry and her heart began kicking against her ribs. Without thinking, she took Silviu’s hand and squeezed his fingers. “Now or never, right?”

  “The timing couldn’t be more perfect. We’ve got to take advantage.” He pressed her palm, released her and rose to his feet. “We can do this, just remember to be careful. Nothing overt.”

  “I know. I can do it.”

  They both smiled gloomily as Costel stepped into the clearing. The silencing spell rippled around him as he pushed through it. The eldest Lovasz child paused to study his siblings, his silver eyes slowly roving over Ileana’s face before he moved to sit on the fountain in the space just vacated by Silviu.

  “Are you all right?”

  She sighed. “It was a close call.”

  “And after breakfast yesterday? Grandfather told me what happened, but I couldn’t find you.”

  “I spent most of the day with Eliasz’s mother, getting the grand tour of the house.”

  “It’s a Levy.” Nodding vaguely, Costel looked up at Silviu. “It wasn’t Grandfather.”

  Silviu only shrugged. “I don’t think he’s trying to kill Ileana, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Or Georgeanne,” Costel insisted.

  Silviu flicked a glance at his sister. “That’s not why I asked you to meet us here.”

  Costel’s eyebrows rose. “Why, then?”

  “You need to take the Family power.”

  Baldly stated, Silviu’s voice was flat and detached, not an impassioned plea. It was a tone designed to gain Costel’s favor, as their brother wasn’t a man inclined to give much credence to emotion. If he’d ever had any of his own, Alexandru would have purged his heir of them quickly.

  Neither did Costel give his loyalty to any one, particular Family member. Ileana watched her older brother closely, noting the play of thoughts swirling in his eyes, though he kept his face impassive. When she and Silviu had managed to band together and form a bond no one could break, Costel was voluntarily separate, not giving anyone any weakness to use against him.

  “Alexandru won’t just hand it over,” he mused quietly.

  “No,” Silviu said. “You’ll have to demand it.”

  “And why should I do that?”

  “His treatment of others is a weakness.” Silviu waved his hand toward Ileana. “Grandfather’s already broken two betrothal agreements for her and couldn’t come to final terms with eight more. You know as well as I do that hurts our Family.”

  Magic words, literally carrying magic.

  Ileana watched the smooth silver force weave into the sound of Silviu’s words. Like a ribbon, it unfurled to cross the small space between her brothers, rising from one and sinking into the other. Toying with the devotion Costel had toward the Lovasz Coven, pulling at delicate strings like a master puppeteer. Very subtle—for now.

  Costel might have kept himself apart from strong bonds with his family members, but he was devoted to Family. An irony that Ileana could never find it in her heart to fully appreciate. Costel was neither highly intelligent nor stupid, neither honorable nor villainous. But the concept of Family drove him as nothing else could, lending a hint of greatness to his purpose.

  Costel shifted on the fountain. “What makes you think I care what others think of our Family?”

  Silviu rolled his eyes. “How could you not? You, of all people, are well aware of what the Lovasz Family could be.”

  “We’re doing just fine, away from the petty politics others become mired in. I see no reason to change it.”

  “We’re down to a hundred members, Costel.” Silviu’s tone took on an edge of exasperation. “We haven’t had a female born to our line since Ileana, which throws the balance off. And you’ve seen how difficult it is getting wives for our cousins. No one wants to marry a Lovasz.”

  “It really hasn’t been that difficult.” Costel was prepared to be stubborn.

  Ileana took her older brother’s hand, trying to look fragile and feminine. “I thought the only ones willing to marry their daughters into our Family come from very weak covens. That impacts the magic of our house, wouldn’t you think?”

  “Our men are strong enough. Not something you understand, I know, but you’ll have to trust me.” Costel patted Ileana’s hand before putting it back on her lap and rising to square off against Silviu.

  She gritted her teeth at his condescension and got to her feet, uncomfortable with the men looming over her. “Yes, of course,” she managed, “but, Costel, I thought that could make our magic fade?”

  “Every generation gets weaker, and you know it,” Silviu said. “You’ve seen it.”

  Costel bared his teeth. “Barely weaker. It’ll take a hundred generations to diminish our bloodline.”

  “Will you be happy when the Lovasz name becomes synonymous with Bane?”

  “You’re marrying a Bane,” Costel’s voice rose, “and no one’s breathed a word of derision.”

  “I’m marrying a born Bane who is smart and politically astute. A Bane who is set to inherit her Family power on the basis of her intelligence and the respect the witching world has for her. Can you claim the same, Costel?”

  He and Ileana both stared at Silviu, hearing the dangerous undertones in his hard voice. Surprisingly, Costel backed off. “I don’t know if I can talk Grandfather into it, and he’s too strong to depose.”

  Ileana decided that it was time to weave her
own magic into the argument. Letting it rise in a cool flow, she sent it streaming out, less subtle than Silviu, more desperate. It was safe enough, since Costel’s arrogance would never let him admit, even to himself, that a female could best him with her magic.

  “If I marry Eliasz, we’ll have connections into a high level of the Levy Family. Third branch is a good placement, Costel.”

  “Your marriage only holds a small advantage for the Lovaszes.”

  “Not true,” Silviu countered. “You even told Grandfather how much the match would benefit us. Think of the power in play. The Levys have a lot of influence.” The ribbon of magic brightened. “Grandfather taught you everything you need to know to reign over the Family and I know you will do a great job.”

  Ileana guided her magic into Silviu’s words, adding weight, sending it spinning until Costel’s dark hair ruffled in a phantom breeze.

  Costel shook his head as if his ears rung. “Of course I will.”

  “But you don’t always understand the connections between covens,” Silviu said.

  “No one could be more devoted to the Lovasz Family than you,” Ileana whispered.

  “Let me deal with that, brother.” Silviu took a single step forward, lowering his voice into a hypnotic drawl. “You take care of the Family, and I’ll take care of the relations between Families. You’ll make us strong within, and I’ll make us strong without.”

  “How will that…will that…help?” Costel pressed his fingers against his temple.

  Ileana placed her hand on his shoulder, heightening the effects of the manipulation. Her older brother was now under full emotional attack. Doubts were planted, ideas sent to lodge deep within his psyche. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself from taking them out of his subconscious to examine.

  The suggestion would sink in, take root, grow. Eventually, Costel would cave and Alexandru would find himself facing off against his entire family, left with no allies. Costel would find a way to make the old man cede the throne.

  Silviu took another sliding step forward, eyes locked on his prey. “Alexandru is dangerous, more unstable every day. He turns other witches from us, they don’t want to work with us or invite us to their gatherings. That puts us all in a weakened position.”